Dry closet



(No Model.) F. In. STREET..

l DRY GLOSBT. A No. 430,154. Patented June 17, 189'0.

ATENE ERICE.

FREDERICK F. STREET, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT.

DRY CLOSET.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 430,154, dated June 17, 1890.

Application filed December 14, 1889. Serial No. 333,721. (No model-l To LZZ whom t puny concern.-

Be it known that I, FREDERICK F. STREET,v

of Hartford, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Dry Closets, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, whereby any one skilled in the art can make and use the same.

My invention relates particularly to the class of closets used in retiring-rooms on railroad-cars; and the object of my invention is to provide a closet of this class that shall obviate and remove the several obstacles present in some prior closets and at the same time provide a practical and useful apparatusparticularly adapted to the requirements of use on railroad-cars and other like means of public conveyances.

My invention consists in details of the several parts making up the device as a whole and in their combination, as more particularly hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims. y

Referring to the drawings, Figure l is a view in elevation of a closet embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a top View of the same. Fig. 3 is a detail rear view in elevation, on enlarged scale, of the lower end of the closet, showing the valve open. Fig.' 4 is a detail side view, on enlarged scale, of the lower part of the closet with the valve open, with parts broken away in section, and the closed position of the valve indicated in dotted outline.

ln prior devices of this class adapted for use on railroad-cars attempts have been made to provide a closet that when in use should be closed at the lower end, in order to prevent danger to health and great discomfort arising from the use of such a closet, with the hopper and basin open at the bottom end for the admission of dust and air.

The difficulties and dangers of use of closets open at the bottom are entirely overcome in my within invention by providing for the certain closing of the bottom of the closet before and while it is in use.

In the accompanying drawings, the letter a denotes the bowl of the' closet, that is preferably made of porcelain or like class of Crockery-ware; Z?, the hopper, that is made, preferably, of sheet metal, circular or rounded in cross-section, and tapering in shape from the upper end at the iioor c of the car to the lower end Z9 of the hopper, that is open on a plane cutting it obliquely. The back wall of the hopper is preferably nearly vertical, while the front wall slopes backward when the device-is secured in position, as shown in the drawings. 'The hopper is usually secured to the floor c, through an opening in which it passes, by turning over a iange and clamping, nailing, or otherwise securing it to the ioor. The bowl usually rests upon the ange and has a proj ect-ing rim extending into the upper end of the hopper, so as to make a tight joint'and a vertically-continuous inner surface within the bowl and hopper.

The seat CZ rests on the `upper end of the bowl, it being hinged or otherwise attached to the frame of the closet-support or to the wall of the car. Over thisseat d is a seal e, that is preferably a closed cover of wood, and a valve-pan-operating lever f (that is in the present instance formed of wood) overlies the the seat and the seal and is hinged to the frame of the closet or wall of the car. To this lever f is secured a standard g', to which is pivotally connected a rod g, the lower end of which is jointed, the lower end of the section above the joint being threaded to it a threaded socket in the socket-piece h, while the jam-nut t', located on the rod, serves to hold the parts against accidental movement after this section of the rod has been adjusted to the proper length. The lower section g2 of the rod below the pivot Zt extends and slides through an opening in the bracket k, the pin being located at an angle with the bracket that is secured to or forms a part of the valve or pan Z. This valveZ is pivoted at Z to a bracket Z2, thelatterbeing secured to the back wall of the hopper. The sectional rod eX- tends between the arms of the bracket Z2, as shown in Figs. 3 and a of the drawings, and a coil-spring m is mounted on the lower section g2 of the rod between the outer end of the rod-socket in the bracket 7c and a nut m, the

rod being threaded for a certain distance at the lower end, so as to enable the nut to serve not only as an abutment against which the spring may press, but also as a means of adjusting the tension of the spring.

The valve is preferably made of two wooden disks Z3 and Z4, the latter being of a size and IOO shape to enable it to fit snugly within the opening at the lower end of the hopper, while the packing-strip extends around beneath the edge of the hopper. Whenthe lever is lifted, the pull upon the rod g closes the outlet ot' the closet by throwing the valve Z against it and holding it there with a yielding pressure depending upon the strength of the spring m. The use of the sectional pull-rod with the parts arranged as herein described enables the whole apparatus to be compactly arranged to form a very effective means of accomplishing the object in view.

If desired, the valve may be maintained in the closed position by fastening the rod in an upright position, as indicated in Figs. l and 2 of the drawings, and there will be no danger of the breaking of any of the parts by the aocumulation and freezing of liquid in the hopper, as the expansion caused by the freezing will thrust the valve open from the use of the yielding spring, and thus allow the contents of the closet to leak out and prevent any accident by the freezing.

A thorough test has fully demonstrated the efficiency and operativeness of the device.

I claim as my invention- 1. In a closet, in combination with the hopper b, having an opening at the lower end f', formed obliquely to the axis of the hopper, a valve l, pivotally connected to the hopper, a jointed rod g, with the lower section extending through an angular socket in the bracket fast to the valve Z and the upper end pivotally connected to a swinging lever, and the spring m, located on the lower section g2 of the rod, with one end thrusting against the bracketk and the other against the adjustable nut m',

whereby the valveis adapted to be held closed with a yielding pressure, all substantially as described.

2. In combination, in a dry closet, the hopper having the tapered outline, the opening at the lower end formed obliquely to the axis of the hopper, the valve Z,pivotally connected to the hopper, the jointed rod g, having a yielding connection with the valve at a point between the body of the valve and the point of its pivotal support, the said rod g being pivotally connected at the upper end to a valveoperating lever and composed of an extensible upper section g,having the threaded lower end entering a threaded socket-piece 7L, a lower section g2,pivotally connected to the upper section, athreaded end bearing a nut m', and the spring fm, held between said nut and the end of the socket-piece in. the bracket 7c, through which the lower section of the rod passes, all substantially as described.

3. In combination, in adry closet, the upper section or bowl a, of crockery or like ware, the metallic lower section b, having its opening at the lower end cut obliquely to the aXis of the hopper, the hinged seat, the seal located above the seat, the valve-operating lever, the hinged Valve pivotally connected to the lower end of the hopper, and the jointed and extensible rod g, pivotally connected at the upper end to the lever and at its lower end to the valve, said lower end g2 passing through an angular socket in the valve-support between the body of the said valve and the point of its pivotal connection to the bracket on the hopper, all substantially as described.

FREDERICK F. STREET. Vtnesses:

CHAs. L. BURDETT, W. B. J ENKINs. 

